Best versions of Jackson 5 Albums?

I am looking for the best sounding version of Jackson 5 albums. Or basically anything that isn't destroyed by Kevin Reeves ruining the original sound. I recently bought the Jackson 5 complete album collection that came out last year only to be disappointed: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...-collection-boxes-in-october-from-umg.329722/

I have never even heard most of these albums before but the sound was so awful on the set that I had to sell it.

Most of the LPs I find are usually completely beat up. I wanted to ask, what is the best sounding versions of the Jackson 5 albums. Are the 2001 twofers any good? Thank you.

 

I just wanted to give this another bump. Should I just seek out the old vinyl presses of these albums and call it a day?

 

Just to be clear, you're looking for vinyl, right?

 

Vinyl or CD as long as the mastering is good.

 

I'll chime in on the CD side. Seek out the mastering work of John Matousek. He did the lion's share of Motown CD mastering in the 80's. He almost exclusively chose (or was given) the stereo mixes. Nice, flat, un-futzed-with, and very analogue sounding mastering. His work is the antidote to that of Kevin Reeves and especially Suha Gur.

Probably your best bet would be the 2-disc Anthology set from 1986:

Other comps mastered by Matousek and equally as great-sounding (but with much smaller song selections):




He also did the Michael Jackson CD stuff in the 80's - like Got To Be There (Motown CD 3746354162), Michael Jackson Anthology and Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits (with the same "A Motown Compact Classic" banner).

I buy every Matousek-mastered Motown CD that I come across because the SQ is so good. Pretty much every single one of the 80's Anthology series, and the Compact Command Performances and Motown Compact Classics series as well. If you want any mono Motown on CD, I recommend the Hitsville USA 1959-1971 set, with the tape transfers done on a full-track tube deck and very nicely mastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch.

 

Actually this is titled 'Best Of Michael Jackson'



Darryl

 

Doh! That's the one!

 

As far as vinyl goes I have always preferred the original UK releases. The British vinyl just sounds better when it comes to Motown.

 

I looked at my Jackson 5 Anthology and saw that the mastering was actually done by Robert Robitaille and Russ Terrana. SQ is still fine and handily beats anything by Reeves or Gur.

 

Are those twofer discs any good?

 

Thank you so much for all this information. I really appreciate it since Jackson 5 mastering info seems to be hard to find. Did this same guy ever master the albums themselves? I am looking into the albums and not the greatest hits.

 

He did master some studio albums by other artists - Diana Ross & The Supremes and Marvin Gaye, for example, but as far as I know not all albums were re-released, just some of the bigger sellers. For the J5, I have personally only seen comps during the Matousek era. Sorry.

 

If your talking about the ones that came out around the release of Invincible the sound is ok. They are not terrible even though they are loud. They contain beautiful booklets, and some fine bonus tracks that IMO adds to the albums.

 

Don't forget the box: "Soulsation! The 25th Anniversary Collection (Motown 1995)"



You can read this post about it: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...if-i-have-these-two-fers.125069/#post-2843877

And the sound is GREAT for most of the songs, clearer than the 2-disc Anthology set from 1986, and not compressed.
It seems not all the Kevin Reeves J5 CDs sounds bad: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/jackson-5-anthology-question.100277/page-3

 

what about this box set http://www.amazon.co.uk/X4-Jackson-...qid=1408113167&sr=1-6&keywords=jackson+5+box?

do you reckon those are old remasters from the late 80s?

 

I'd guess these would be the 2010 remasters.

Darryl

 

I'm listening to two of the twofer remasters that Motown released in 2001 (specifically Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5/ABC and Third Album/Maybe Tomorrow). I must say that they sound fantastic to these ears, even though many on this forum have suggested that the 2001 twofers used second-generation tapes, where the engineer tried to make it sound "realistic."

 

The 2010 reissues that I own (Get It Together, Dancing Machine, and Moving Violation) aren't the best in terms of dynamics. The DR value for each of them is 9 (minimum DR track for each is 8, and the max is 10). I have the vinyl for G.I.T. and it trumps the 2010 CD in every way. Warm, smooth, and dynamic. Exactly the way this kind of music needs to sound. As for the next 2 albums, they don't sound bad EQ-wise, but I don't have the vinyl to compare. I imagine that the other 2010 CD's have similar sonics to the 3 I've got.

 

The only decent Jacksons albums were Destiny,The Jacksons & Triumph.

 

Best source: TJL

 

What about the twofers from 1986?

 

The first four Jacksons albums were great, with Destiny and Triumph being at the apex.

 

And what about the Jackson 5?

 

The 1986 twofer CD I have of Got To Be There and Ben is very flat and dynamic.

 

I'd hunt down any vinyl version of their albums. All the ones I've heard, from originals to what I presume are reissues, sound great. My favourite is a Japanese pressing of ABC. That first side: woah!